Chapter 2

She kept asking me for money, but I had nothing left to give. So she slipped a large dose of sleeping pills into my milk, making sure I would never wake up again.

At my funeral, she wept uncontrollably, as if she were utterly devastated. Countless people online sympathized with her and praised her for her filial affection.

After the funeral, she walked away holding my ashes, her face still filled with grief. But the moment she was out of sight, she dumped every last bit of my ashes into a filthy gutter.

Her gaze was cold and venomous. "You brought this on yourself. You should be grateful I didn't make it worse.

"You never deserved to be my mother.

"You're nothing but a useless, ugly old woman. Why did you meddle in things that don't concern you? You deserve to rot here."

With that, Lana spat into the gutter and walked away without a second glance.

Thinking back on it all, my heart grew cold.

I raised her on my own, saving every penny, handling every problem, and protecting her as if she were fragile. I had even mapped out her future.

To help her pursue her childhood dream, I even worked three jobs at once to save enough for her tuition.

And after all that, this was what I got in return.

Perhaps I was wrong from the very beginning.

I should have known better than to expect any gratitude from a daughter who took after her father in all the worst ways. She was a truly heartless ingrate.

If she never wanted to be my daughter, if she could not stand my care, then so be it.

From this moment on, she would be free for good.

I spoke into the phone in a calm, measured voice. "I'm very sorry, but we're currently facing financial difficulties at home. Lana will no longer be able to receive training from you."

"Thank you for all your guidance over the past few days. If she ever wishes to resume her training, please contact her father regarding the tuition."

The coach sighed, sounding regretful, but did not try to persuade me further.

She knew the path was difficult, and without financial support, it was almost impossible to continue.

After hanging up, I canceled all of Lana's other tutoring sessions as well.

If she did not want to study, then there was no point in forcing her anymore.

Over the years, I had spent far too much on her education.

It was not limited to modeling classes. I also invested heavily in academic tutoring. That way, even if she did not gain direct admission to a university, she would still have a strong academic record to support a regular college application.

I tried to cover every possible path, but she always claimed I was forcing her into things she hated, depriving her of the happiness she should have had as a child.

Lana inherited her good looks and figure from me, which gave her certain advantages in life. But her distorted worldview and personality came entirely from her father, David Parker.

He had an associate's degree, and we met through a blind date.

I married him mainly because he seemed reliable and hardworking, always upbeat and energetic. He became a department manager at a young age and had some financial stability.

But after Lana was born, I realized those so-called qualities were nothing more than a facade.

He could not be bothered to lift a finger around the house. Every night, he was out drinking and partying with his friends, and more often than not, he did not even come home.

On top of that, I later discovered that the owner of his company was actually a distant relative, and the entire setup had been questionable from the beginning.

His "department manager" title was nothing more than a cushy position where he barely had any real responsibilities.

I kept enduring everything in the hope that Lana could grow up in an intact family.

Even though I knew full well that he was cheating on me. He had bought his mistress a car and even a property, yet I still never filed for divorce.

When Lana was eight, he came home drunk and enraged. He grabbed a knife and attacked me, leaving my scalp torn open and blood everywhere.

That night, I was rushed to the hospital and received eight stitches to stay alive.

After that, I finally told him I wanted a divorce.

David's entire family came over, pleading with me to forgive him. I pointed to my bandaged head and explained exactly why I wanted a divorce.

But in front of everyone, he insisted that I had simply slipped and hit my head by accident. He described it as a mishap and refused to take any responsibility.

I was determined to proceed with the divorce and sought full custody of Lana, requesting 2,000 dollars a month in child support.

But he refused outright. He said, "If we are divorced, Lana is no longer my family. I will not give you a single dollar."

I found it absurd.

Before the divorce proceeding, he spent less than two hundred dollars a month on Lana and me combined.

But on his mistress, he spent ten thousand dollars a month, sometimes even a hundred thousand.

Now that I had filed for divorce, he refused to pay a single dollar in child support, claiming that we were no longer family.

I told him I would take him to court, but he shamelessly threatened me. He said that if I went through with it, he would fight me for custody of Lana.

He earned more than I did, and Lana already seemed more attached to him, saying she wanted to stay with him. If it went to court, there was a strong chance the judge would award the custody to him.

But I knew that if Lana ended up living with him, her life would be ruined.